The Oreans

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The Orean Commander

"Alen..."

He heard his name being called and felt a gentle tap on his shoulder, but he ignored it. His eyes were still so heavy with sleep. It must not be morning yet.

"Alen, wake up."

Alen opened his eyes and then abruptly sat up straight. He realized he had drowsed off sitting by the window. There was a moments silence. Then, Alen remembered the incident the previous night: Divan's return and the attack on Rafim.

"You fell asleep here, Adrien said. Look at yourself. And I thought I got the worst of it."

Alen looked closely and seeing red spots on Adrien's cheeks, felt itchy himself. The latter gave him a wry smile, but something in his eyes told him something.

"Divan—he is still asleep, isnt he?" Alen ventured.

"No. He's already left. He thought it would be better if you didn't see him off."

Alen fought the desire to run out and go after him once more.

"Just as I thought," he murmured. More aloud, he asked, "Rafim--how is he?"

As he said so, he followed Adrien's gaze to one of the windows opposite them, the one where he had seen the moving shadow the previous night. Its shutter was already down.

"I don't really know. I have seen neither him nor the woman go out yet. But I guess hell be fine."

"Adrien, will--will you tell the commander about him?"

"Tell the commander?" Adrien repeated, looking down at him.

"Yes. Won't the commander be interested in him? He saved him after all."

Alen was tempted to tell Adrien about Rafim's healing ability, but he decided not to, not until he had proofs.

"Yeah, I guess so," Adrien replied thoughtfully. "He'll make an excellent addition to the company." Casting a final glance at Rafim's house, he moved away from the window and headed for the door. "Come, Alen. We've got a long day ahead."

"We?" Alen asked in confusion.
Adrien stopped short. "I assume you still haven't changed your mind about joining us."

An hour later, Alen found himself riding beside Adrien again. This time, he tried to remember the signs. He did not want to get lost once more like what happened yesterday and end up somewhere else.

"Alen, what's wrong?" Adrien asked when they reached the Circle. "I observed you're a bit uneasy when were passing by the marketplace."

Alen thought he should as well tell him about his embarrassing experience the previous day. So he did, only excluding his conversation with the old woman, which he felt like keeping as a secret for the meantime. When he was done with his story, Adrien only smiled.

"It's natural to lose your way on your first day here," he said. "You're lucky you've found someone to show you the way.... So--that's where Rafim went to after leaving the mansion?"

"No. Someone just brought him there: a girl he had rescued from something. The girl must have realized how ill he was and thought Madam Liana could take him in and set him right."

"Yes, Liana always has her door open particularly to children in need of aid."

"Well, Rafim refused her. He asked for Rinea instead."

"What a strange fellow! But it appears he's got a ready hand no matter what--and strong, too. Doing all those heroic acts must have drained him of his aurea. Still, he managed to protect himself from his attackers before we came last night. There's a limit to how much aurea a person can use. It's surprising that at his age he can push himself beyond that limit."